Related papers: On the bad points of positive semidefinite polynom…

Let $X\subset{\mathbb R}^n$ be a (global) real analytic surface. Then every positive semidefinite meromorphic function on $X$ is a sum of $10$ squares of meromorphic functions on $X$. As a consequence, we provide a real Nullstellensatz for…

Every convex homogeneous polynomial (or form) is nonnegative. Blekherman has shown that there exist convex forms that are not sums of squares via a nonconstructive argument. We provide an explicit example of a convex form of degree four in…

We study the structure of bounded degree polynomials over finite fields. Haramaty and Shpilka [STOC 2010] showed that biased degree three or four polynomials admit a strong structural property. We confirm that this is the case for degree…

If $f$ is a positive definite form, Reznick's Positivstellensatz [Mathematische Zeitschrift. 220 (1995), pp. 75--97] states that there exists $k\in\mathbf{N}$ such that ${\| x \|^{2k}_2}f$ is a sum of squares of polynomials. Assuming that…

We study partitions of complex numbers as sums of non-negative powers of a fixed algebraic number $\beta$. We prove that if $\beta$ is real quadratic, then the number of partitions is always finite if and only if some conjugate of $\beta$…

Let ${\cal P}=\{h_1, ..., h_s\}\subset \Z[Y_1, ..., Y_k]$, $D\geq \deg(h_i)$ for $1\leq i \leq s$, $\sigma$ bounding the bit length of the coefficients of the $h_i$'s, and $\Phi$ be a quantifier-free ${\cal P}$-formula defining a convex…

Let a polynomial $f \in \mathbb{Z}[X_1,\ldots,X_n]$ be given. The square sieve can provide an upper bound for the number of integral $\mathbf{x} \in [-B,B]^n$ such that $f(\mathbf{x})$ is a perfect square. Recently this has been generalized…

Here is a square problem: in a unit square, is there a point with four rational distances to the vertices? A probability argument suggests a negative answer. This paper proves several special cases of the square problem: if the point sits…

We link the study of positive quantum maps, block positive operators, and entanglement witnesses with problems related to multivariate polynomials. For instance, we show how indecomposable block positive operators relate to biquadratic…

Given $p$ polynomials with coefficients in a commutative unitary integral ring $\mathcal{C}$ containing $\mathbb{Q}$, we define the notion of a generic Bernstein-Sato polynomial on an irreducible affine scheme $V \subset…

Let P be an elementary closed semi-algebraic set in R^d, i.e., there exist real polynomials p_1,...,p_s such that P= \{x \in R^d : p_1(x) \ge 0, >..., p_s(x) \ge 0 \}; in this case p_1,...,p_s are said to represent P. Denote by $n$ the…

We investigate the representation of symmetric polynomials as a sum of squares. Since this task is solved using semidefinite programming tools we explore the geometric, algebraic, and computational implications of the presence of discrete…

We study real quadratic fields $\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{D})$ such that, for a given rational integer $m$, all $m$-multiples of totally positive integers are sums of squares. We prove quite sharp necessary and sufficient conditions for this to…

Deciding whether or not two polynomials have isomoprhic splitting fields over the rationals is the Field Isomorphism Problem. We consider polynomials of the form $f_n(x) = x^4-nx^3-6x^2+nx+1$ with $n \neq 3$ a positive integer and we let…

We consider the problem of defining polynomials over function fields of positive characteristic. Among other results, we show that the following assertions are true. 1. Let $\G_p$ be an algebraic extension of a field of $p$ elements and…

This paper studies the saddle point problem of polynomials. We give an algorithm for computing saddle points. It is based on solving Lasserre's hierarchy of semidefinite relaxations. Under some genericity assumptions on defining…

We consider univariate real polynomials with all roots real and with two sign changes in the sequence of their coefficients which are all non-vanishing. One of the changes is between the linear and the constant term. By Descartes' rule of…

Conic linear programs, among them semidefinite programs, often behave pathologically: the optimal values of the primal and dual programs may differ, and may not be attained. We present a novel analysis of these pathological behaviors. We…

This paper presents a novel algorithm for constructing a sum-of-squares (SOS) decomposition for positive semi-definite polynomials with rational coefficients. Unlike previous methods that typically yield SOS decompositions with…

Let $f$ be a polynomial of degree $d>6$, with integer coefficients. Then the paucity of non-trivial positive integer solutions to the equation $f(a)+f(b)=f(c)+f(d)$ is established. The corresponding situation for equal sums of three like…